Fairbanks woman indicted in 'car surfing' death

Report: 58 have died doing stunt between 1990 and Aug. 2008

FAIRBANKS - A grand jury has indicted a 39-year-old woman accused of manslaughter for her role in the car-surfing death of a Fairbanks man.

District Attorney Mike Gray said this week he sought the charge against Samantha Lee Randolph because the June 10 accident was caused by "extreme" recklessness.

"Recklessly causing the death of another defines manslaughter," he said.

Court records show Randolph has yet to retain an attorney.

Car surfing is when a person stands on the hood of a moving vehicle. It's been popularized in movies such as "Teen Wolf." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report last year noting that 58 people died while performing the stunt between 1990 and August 2008.

According to Alaska State Troopers, Randolph said the incident occurred when Roman Retynski was driving a truck toward his family's cabin. With the vehicle moving at an estimated 60 mph, Retynski declared he wanted to go surfing and climbed out.

Randolph struggled to gain control of the truck and at some point Retynski fell.

Randolph told authorities she looked for Retynski, but couldn't find him. She spent the night at a nearby campground before contacting Retynski's brother, who found the body the next day on the side of Chena Hot Springs Road.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that Retynski was considered a bit of a daredevil by his friends and relatives. Following his death, his mother said her son might have car surfed as many as 100 times since he was a teenager.

Troopers said Retynski had been drinking on the night of the accident, but Randolph did not.